Gulf of Oman

This level, originally featured in the game's demo, appears in the full version of the game with both of its 16 and 32-player versions intact, and also includes a 64-player version. It takes place on the shores of a large beach, with numerous beach fortifications ripe for the taking - by either side.

In its smallest version, though, the Gulf features no water, and is a straightforward bash between two opposing forces over a relatively small patch of land. Each side is going to have at least three vehicles available to it, including one tank apiece, so anti-tanking will still be required if you want to slow down the enemy's advance. The map generally slopes downward from the MEC city to the USMC's beachfront property, giving the MEC an advantage when it comes to sniping and just in terms of their general view of the battlefield, especially when they can get someone to spot from atop one of the buildings near their initial spawn point, or even the large crane there. If you're USMC then you'll need to be on the lookout for opposing snipers, because they'll probably have a great view of your approach to the northern half of the map.

On the larger maps, things tend to become a bit less concentrated, but hectic nonetheless. The lower three or four fortification points, along the edges of the beach, are going to be the center of the action in most games, and they'll shift back and forth multiple times as a match plays out. The Rock and Olive Hill fortifications are going to be the critical points here, and the most difficult to capture, due to the small ramps leading up to the flags. This will prevent vehicles, especially tanks, from getting close to the flags while still retaining mobility and field of view; parking a tank on one of these ramps just to get close to the flag is essentially asking for the other team to blow you away with C4.

You can hop onto these barrels of concrete and fire over them to defend the beach bases while exposing a minimum of body area to your enemies.

The "rear" flags, for lack of a better word, consist of the a hotel, a construction site, and another site across the river from the construction site, although this latter only appears in the 64-player version. These are often going to be slightly less busy than the other sites, mostly due to the relatively winding paths required to reach them with vehicles, so it can be tempting to leave them undefended while you head out for the beaches. If you're a defensive player, though, you may find it handy to just find a nice spot to lay prone and watch for intruders.

But really, the beaches are where the bulk of the action is going to be taking place, whether it's squads, bombing, tank assaults, or what have you. The sightlines afforded by the openness of the area will give players plenty of warning of incoming forces, and thus plenty of time to call out targets and request backup, leading to some pretty hectic situations. You won't live long if you choose to run around on the beaches, especially if you're infantry, so try not to expose yourself overmuch. It's important to note that the USMC artillery is situated on the beaches near the River Fortification, which makes that point relatively vital to both sides. If the MEC forces overcome it and begin spawning there, you can expect the USMC artillery to be blown away shortly thereafter.

Kubra Dam

Kubra Dam is only available in multiplayer; you can't run singleplayer bot matches here. That said, it's likely going to wind up being one of the most popular multiplayer maps, due to its iconic namesake dam, which dominates the smaller maps and still acts as a focal point when the map is expanded out to 64 people.

In the smallest version of this map, verticality becomes an important concept, since your foes may just as likely be above or below as they are to be across the dam from you; the dam itself has a number of walkways, stairs, and sniper's roosts on top of it, making it a fully three-dimensional battleground. The upper flag is likely going to be the center of the early fighting, due to its relatively easy-to-access position with regards to the starting bases of both sides, but it can also be difficult to hold due to the fact that vehicles will quickly be blocked off to it. This is where the whole bridge-destroying mechanic really comes into play, since the dam road on either side of the flag can be blown away by special forces soldiers; doing so will prevent enemy vehicles from accessing the flag. Enemy infantry will still be able to skirt along one side of the destroyed roadway, however, and the bridges can be repaired by engineers, so you'll need to keep a pretty strong anti-infantry force around the flag itself.

The lower flag is going to be a bit more open, although it will be protected from the artillery of both sides due to the fact that it's underneath the dam itself. Vehicles and infantry will have an easy time approaching it, but if you're driving down from the side bases, you'll have to follow some pretty lengthy paths. It may be quicker just to hitch a ride to the upper-central flag, then parachute off the back of the dam to fall down to the lower flag.

The 32 and 64-player versions of the map are almost identical, with the 64-player version featuring only a single extra flag in the northern end of the map. In these versions of the map, the USMC forces will only have a couple of spawn points at the beginning of the map, and will be tasked with overtaking the MEC bases throughout the rest of the map. The map is so large and spread out, though, especially on the 32 player version, that strike forces coming out in small vehicles or parachuting from planes or helicopters ought to be able to grab one of the side flags and start working their way into enemy territory. If you're a USMC player, then you may want to risk heading into enemy territory and capturing their rear airfield base; doing so will prevent them from summoning in air support, but you can expect a dedicated counterattack if you do actually manage to hold this spot.